Sunday @ The Coli With Mascots

8:39 pm: Well, after the game, after dinner, after cleaning the kitche, after writing up a very painful entry, the postgame thoughts can be found here at Hockeybuzz.com.


An afternoon game in December when there is a Giants football game on is not the best use of scheduling, but here we are anyway.

Yes, the attendance police will use this one as fodder for relocation once again I am sure. Especially with @BrooksieNYP and his call for the NHL to force Charles Wang to sell the team.

Down at Doolan's this blogger finally got to meet a superstar in the Islanders blogosphere, SB Nation's, Mr. LighthouseHockey himself, Dominic. Also there were Islesblogger.com Mike, IslesOfficial Doug, (& his Dad) and @Dani3boyz,



The puck drops and I hardly notice. Brad Kurtzburg from Inside Hockey.com and I chat while play is under way. We missed only two Islander shots on goal.

With Giroux in the box, the Isles fail to get a shot on goal during the power play, let alone a goal.

With 25 seconds left of the Power Play, Blake Comeau takes a tripping penalty leaving the team short handed for 1:35. To make matters worse, Matt Marin loses his stick.

At even strength Jeff Carter gets a lucky break as the puck banks off Roloson's bent knee and behind him into the net.

It looks like the refs like "hooking" as the call dujour and Jack Hillen headed to the box. By the time he got out, the Flyers didn't score again and had added only a handful of shots on goal for a total of 8 while the Islanders with only 1:12 left of the first have only three. But then again, it's hard to put shots on net when you're short handed.

Once again, Dwayne Roloson has been the star of the first period along with a lucky break here and there when pucks hit the post.

During the first intermission, the Mascots have an intense game of musical chairs. Just like their team, who seems to be even worse (currently) than the Isles, the Devils mascot was the first one tossed out of the game. Bounced in the first round... Who'da thought? It came down to a battle between Sparky and Storm. Two guesses, Sparky won. But it is his birthday. (Today is also Johnny Rzeznik's 45th birthday

Second period begins much the way the first ended: Slow. Rob Schremp took a high sticking penalty and the Islanders actually had a short handed chance when Eaton took the puck all the way to Bobrovsky's crease. It almost went in. Almost. As Brad told me, Mark Eaton doesn't have a point yet this season and he has played in every game.

Another good chance came when Frans Nielsen stole the puck and skated it towards the Flyers net and shot and another miss. But hey, they at least look like they have a little more pep in the second.

Okay, let's look for a Good News Dept.: Both Kyle Okposo and Milan Jurcina skated today. Could Kyle's return be a Christmas gift to the fans? Please Santa? Please!

Roli takes offense when he is smacked in the mask by a stick while he was down in the crease making a save. Don't get the old man angry.

With Matt Carle in the box, the Islanders go back on the power play. By this time, they should start declining them. The Flyers take another penalty and are down two men for about ten seconds as Nodl went to the box. The Flyers have blocked everything the Islanders have been able to get off their sticks.


With less than a minute remaining on the Isles power play, the Flyers have a short handed chance that went off Roli's post. Lucky again. With the power plays over, the Isles added eight shots on Bobrovsky during their power plays that brings them to 0 for 35. If you can't score when you are on the advantage, something is very wrong.


Role reversal: Travis Hamonic with a shot from the blue line and Rob Schremp with a hit in the corner.



Third period and the Isles have 21 SOG to the FLyers 17, but the Flyers are still up by 1 in this less than exciting game. It hurts me to no end to hear some that are paid to be here complain about having to be here. They are best to remember that there are plenty who would take their place for far less. But back to the ice.

If something would just happen on the ice. And there's the goal horn as PA Parenteau takes a pass from Schremp and deposits it in the back of Bobrovsky's net. That is the Isles first goal in 111.02 minutes and it has tied the game.

Thank you PA.

Within a few seconds after Laviolette called a time out, Frans Nielsen scored his first goal since October 30th as he skated up the right boards and shot it past the Flyers goalie who had no idea it went behind him. With his first point of the year, Mark Eaton is finally on the score sheet with an assist.

I panicked when Matt Moulson was sent to the box. I knew it couldn't be good. Roloson killed off almost the entire penalty when with only six seconds left, Nodl tied it at two. Travis Hamonic couldn't handle clearing a rebound on Roli's doorstep and that was all it took to end the Islanders' lead.

Zenon Konopka drawss a penalty on Ville Leino for tripping and the Islanders go on the power play for their last chance to tie the game and get a point. Hamonic gets a shot on goal that is turned aside. Every time the Islanders try to skate the puck in, the Flyers manage to clear it. Penalty ends, teams at full strengh and 1:57 remain in a game that will see the Flyers leave the Coliseum with two points and a lot of kids whose only joy today was seeing a gaggle of furry, big headed mascots.

The Isles play again on Thursday in Boston. This leaves them another long layover between games. Jack has to come up with something to fire this team up. And it better be quick.


At 5:44 left of the third, mighty-mite Danny Briere give the Flyers their lead as he got by both Hillen and Nielsen and lifted one over Roli and skated away gloating. Jack Capuano looks frustrated behind the bench.

Hamonic and A-Mac tried to create a spark by going after Hartnell against the boards behind Roli's net. Not much time left to get a fire going with that little spark.

No Goals, No Points, No WAY!

It wasn't the ending I or any other Islander fan expected. We're pretty used to the Islanders walking out of MSG with two points and a few bruises. Not tonight. I thought for sure after last night's hard fought loss, it would be a repeat of intensity with a different outcome. The Rangers won 2 - 0 with one earned goal and one empty netter.

Rob Schremp had talked about intensity and a little luck. The Islanders had neither tonight at MSG while Yahoo's PuckDaddy threw a party across the street. Hopefully that crowd fared better than the Isles.

Jack Hillen returned to the line up and replaced Dylan Reese (BTW, there's an article on him on the main website.) Jack played 21 shifts and blocked four shots. Trevor Gillies, who yesterday set the tone at 3 minutes into the contest, sat on the bench tonight for all but 3:27 and spent no time in his second home -- the box.

Zenon Konopka who is usually dominant on face offs went five of eleven for a FO% of only 45%. Good by many standards, but not good enough for a Ranger game.

The pin-ball that is Matt Martin, who won the fight decision last night over Michael Sauer managed only two hits tonight.

Matt Moulson and John Tavares both had four shots on goal out of the 17 that managed to get anywhere near Henrik Lundqvist.

On the other side of the ice, the 41-year-old goaltender faced only 21 shots. The difference was that so many of them were quality shots. Dwayne Roloson gave up one goal. One single goal. He should not have faced a loss for letting one puck get by him.

But there were a lot of "should not have's" in this game.

Ryan Callahan should NOT have clocked Frans Nielsen into next week and caused everyone to hold their breath. Jesse Joensuu should NOT have been given
19 minutes of penalties for having to stick up for his team mate.

But my biggest problem with the game, besides the loss of course, was the treatment of Jon Sim by the officiating staff. Twice Jon was called for goaltender interference when he was visibly pushed into Lunqvist and once given a diving penalty. It was apparent to me that Jon must have run over someone's puppy because these seemed to be very personal and retalitory calls.

Sean Avery was not as lucky tonight as he was last night. A roughing and Misconduct call in the first and a boarding call in the second. Avery being Avery once again.

Dwayne Roloson would not condem the officiating staff for the job they did tonight. However, I can. It was miserable.

But the bad calls that were just outrageous didn't change the fact that the Islanders could not find a way to get past Henrik. The last nail in the coffin was a puck that clanged off the post so loudly, it reverberated through the MSG cameras.

The Isles are still at the very bottom of the standings while other teams are racking up points. The Metro challenge will not be theirs this year, but a top five draft pick very well will be.

With all this happening, a Twitter buddy asked me how I continue to stay positive in these dark days. Truth is, I can't help it. I know that everything ends eventually, even bad times.

Andy MacDonald has returned and ultimately Milan Jurcina will return along with Kyle Okposo and maybe even Doug Weight. Hey! Think of it! It's December and Radek Martinek is still in the line-up.

But this is emotional ownership because not only do I love the game, I have grown to know these men quite well. It's the same as my daughter's softball team. I don't go to their houses and have dinner, but that doesn't make me any less concerned for them or less willing to cheer them on.

I may not agree with everything this organization does as an organization, but I can't help but feel strongly about the players on the ice. They want to win as much as we want them to. While we are angry at a loss to the Rangers -- again, they are too.

Now we have to worry about Sunday.

Isles 5 Vs. Rangers 6 12/2/10

It was a game of flukey bounces and opportunities for both sides. And considering that it was a cross-town rivalry match, it was actually pretty disciplined. There were the two major fights. The first coming at only 3:24 of the first period as Trevor Gillies and Derek Boogaard squared off throwing punch after punch and spinning each other around and around. The second fight didn't come until 10:12 of the second when Matt Martin and Michael Sauer become well acquainted. Other than that, there was only the pair of #16s annoying the daylights out of each other, but not taking any penalties. Yes, Sean Avery seemed to be on his best behavior and he was rewarded for it with a three point night in assists.



The crowd of 13,742 that was definitely more red, white & blue than anything else traded cheers and jeers with each other. While Marty Biron was pulled from the net after giving up 3 goals, the crowd didn't seem to get on him. However, when Rick gave up 4 goals by the second period, he was called out in unison by Ranger and Islander fans alike. But as an equal opportunity heckler, the crowd did the same to Henrik when he replaced Biron. Lundqvist gave up two more goals to the Islanders. All the goals but one were at even strength. Only Marian Gaborik scored on the power play while PA Parenteau was in the box for high sticking.



Zenon Konopka finally scored a goal as an Islander, Travis Hamonic tallied his first NHL point with an assist on Blake Comeau's goal, Rob Schremp scored his third from a different angle this time and Matt Moulson has to write another check to the Islanders Childrens Charities.


But all that was not enough to hold off the Blueshirts. Yes, they were lucky bounces. Once of which came off returning defenseman Andy MacDonald's face. But some of the Ranger goals, especially Gaborik's, came from mistakes. The Islanders had 25 turnovers to the Rangers 5. And when the Islanders had their one powerplay opportunity, they couldn't make Doug proud by scoring on it.

So while the game was well within reach all the way to the last minute, it was a painful loss for the youngsters on the Islanders roster.

The mood in the locker room was somber once again. There was no loud music playing, just whispers of disappointment and media questions. To a man, the sat in their stalls waiting for the inevitable "So what went wrong?" and "What do you think you have to do tomorrow?" How about 'win'? That's the answer. How often can you analyze a loss. They are not excuses, but reasons. A turnover, a bounce, a penalty. But yet, they answer, over and over again.

Christian from IslandersHockeyBlog was better at interviewing the players who were still trying to shake the loss off their minds than I was. I attempted to talk to Matt Martin but just couldn't. Christian went over and did the job I didn't have the heart to do.


Ken from OkposoNet held my recorder for me int the crowd that surrounded Rick DiPietro. He hated losing this one. Actually, he hates losing all of them. You can hear it in his post game interview. This was not a blow-out as each team had scored at least five times. The problem was that the Rangers managed six.

The good thing? That means Wendy's Chili tomorrow and the Islanders have actually remembered where the back of the net is. The bad thing? The Rangers left the building with the two points.

Dwayne Roloson will get the start tomorrow at MSG. I had a feeling he would. Mind you Dwayne may not have a very good first period due to the extensive time without playing. But know the Islanders will be ready and will have even more intensity than they did tonight.

Andy MacDonald played with a controlled fire tonight. Jack Hillen may be back in the line-up tomorrow and should play with the same type of intensity with not only points but roster positions on the line.

They get to do this all over again tomorrow.


Offside: We stopped to talk to CJ Papa for a few minutes and I took a photo of my blogger brethren and the SNY TV regular. That's Ken Dick sporting a new look, CJ Papa, InsideHockey.com's Brad Kurtzberg and Christian Arnold from IslandersHockeyBlog.

Also a good read is Brad's extensive and thoughtful one-on-on Q&A session with GM Garth Snow at InsideHockey.com.

Isles vs. Rangers 12/2/10 Photos

Home & Home May not Be Sweet

Finally.

The players may have needed a five day gap between games, but the fans didn't. Riding a tiny ripple of momentum by earning four points in six games. That's how Matt Moulson said it to me. He didn't look at it like three games. He still was thinking about the losses.

But it's not just points lost, it's also man games. Tonight the Islanders will face the Rangers without Trent Hunter and without Mike Mottau. They get back (FINALLY!) Andy MacDonald. How big will his head be if they go on a winning streak with him back in the line-up? Do we care?

With Doug Weight helping to coach the power play, will they improve their 0 for 29 record tonight? How big will HIS head get if they can turn THAT around? Again, Do we care?

Rick DiPietro will face off against the Blueshirt squad. If he can maintain the same form he has had in his recent starts, this could be a very interesting match-up. Not that it ever isn't.

The ad today in Newsday says this game is for Bragging Rights. It always is. These games are for the Metro Cup, the trophy the Islanders have far more of a chance to win than the Stanley Cup (again).

Tortorella told Newsday that Sean Avery has played well and been effective recently. He has been moved up from the fourth line to the first. He will just be more annoying there. I'm pretty certain it will all start in warm-ups and go from there. Anyone else calling for Trevor Gillies to be in the line-up tonight? Yes.

I am not sure if young Travis Hamonic will get his first chance at playing against the Rangers and experiencing the Rivalry. Andy MacDonald said he's ready for it. I'm pretty sure Rick is too.

The question will be -- Is Jack?